Europe fit for the Digital Age

Today, the European Commission proposed new rules and actions intended to boost the development of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe. Their aim is to unify the understanding of AI and the approach to its regulation in all EU Member States.

The new Commission’s proposal is the combination of the first-ever legal framework proposal on AI – Regulation on Harmonised Rules on AI, the new Coordinated Plan with Member States on AI, and the New rules on Machinery.

The new rules will apply directly and uniformly in all EU Member States, and they follow a risk-based approach. Thus, the AI systems will be divided into four main groups, for which different measures will apply appropriately: 1) AI systems with unacceptable risk will be banned; 2) AI systems that pose a high-risk will be subjected to strict obligations before being put on the market; 3) AI systems with a limited risk will face transparency obligations; and 4) AI systems with minimal risk will be freely available to use.

The next steps are to be taken by the European Parliament and the Member States that have to adopt the proposed Regulation, so that it can become directly applicable across the EU. The Commission will also continue to actively cooperate with the Member States to ensure appropriate implementation of actions prevised in the new Coordinated Plan on AI.

For more information on the new proposed rules, see here and here.